I received my copy of Fresh
Fish from Plenary
Games on Saturday and got a chance to play it
for the first time tonight. Julie humored me with a quick 2-player game. I’ll
do a more thorough review shortly, but I have to say that I can’t wait to play
this with 3 or 4 players. Fresh Fish is a tile placement game with a small
auction element and a big puzzle/deduction element. The rules are very simple,
but I can see the strategies being quite complex. This game only took about 15
minutes to finish; I would guess that each additional player would add 10-15
minutes.

Benjamin Corliss has designed two abstract strategy games that he runs online
at his web site. I’ve only playedBreacan so far (against
Benjamin), but I like what I see. Check out the site, sign up, and give it a
try.

I spent a few hours at Benjamin Corliss’ place
last Tuesday gaming with a small group of very nice folks. Kevin
Graham, who also hosts gaming
periodically, was there so it was nice to see a familiar face.

Kevin was given a free copy of this game on the condition that he would write
a review. Four of us played the game presumably as a light opener – this games
a bit longer than you might think given the theme. The card quality is very
high in this game where you try to get bunnies out and keep them out while
destroying your friends’ bunnies. The ultimate goal is to win the magic carrot
at the end (your odds improve as you buy or win carrots throughout the game).
This game reminds a bit ofFluxx in that the
play can seem chaotic at times, but I could see a bit of strategy lurking
under the silly facade. I may consider playing again, but I don’t think it is
worth adding to my collection.

I took out my newly aquired Corsairs game to introduce to the four folks I had
just played Killer Bunnies with (the rest of the group were still entrenched
in a game of Mare
Nostrum). This is
fun, light game that is easy to teach with a great Pirate theme. I fell behind
fast and finished a distant third, but had fun losing.

I finished with a quick game of Condottiere with the folks that had been
playing Mare Nostrum. This game ended up going quickly, as one player was able
to go for his third consecutive region nearly unchallenged. This is a fun card
game (I played it at Kevin’s house for the first time) but I’m still not sure
I want to own it.